Insert Self, Senshi
by Ryu Himora
Summary: Serena and company find Luna training someone they did not expect to meet on Earth.
1. Chapter 1

Ryu was walking over to his friend's house on the day it happened. It had been a particularly good day - he got a lot of writing done, gotten all of his tests in school exactly right, and was going over to Ryn's house to have a really good gaming session.

And then...

One thousand years earlier, Queen Serenity began to cast the spell that would send the Silver Crystal and the Sailor Senshi into the future. Right as she finished it, there was a surge of universal chaos energy that flowed into her body, magnified the spell slightly, then dissipated.

Of course, Serenity didn't know that. As far as she was concerned, everything had gone perfectly.

Back to Ryu, he heard a funny noise starting to surround him. No one else on the street seemed to hear it, and his cell phone was only registering normal background noise. Ryu put his hand on the katana sewn into his pant leg and partially unsheathed it.

A storm started brewing above Ryu, and again no one on the street noticed. Suddenly, a black gyrating portal appeared beneath his feet, and he fell in.

* * *

Luna watched as Serena, again, broke into a deafening cry. This time, she hadn't seen a small dip in the sidewalk and tripped on it. The result was an unexpected downpour of tears and ear-splitting wails.

Even though it was impossible to hear anything except Serena within a half-mile radius of her, Luna's magical senses picked up something about a block away. Knowing that she wouldn't be missed for the next few minutes, Luna decided to check it out.

The disturbance was coming from a warehouse wall. As Luna concentrated on it, she could sense the powers of the Negaverse coming from it. It was a portal trying to form, but failing.

Luna knew that if it was a portal from Queen Beryll, the energy matrix would have formed perfectly and some sort of monster emerged. Luna focused her own energy and made a lunar flip, forming a matrix amplifier.

The portal materialized on the brick wall, and a very distressed human male stumbled out of it. He was fairly tall, about six feet, with short dirty blonde hair, and emerald green eyes. He had blue jeans and a blood red short sleeve shirt with a lean build. In his right hand was a hand and a half short katana covered with an ominous purple liquid.

"What. The hell. Was that?" He said. He was out of breath, frantically looking around, but generally relieved.

Luna was astounded. No human had ever survived being inside the Negaverse for any period of time. This person had obviously been in there for a very long time, and didn't even have a scratch. Luna had to take a minute to collect herself before she was able to speak.

"That was called the Negaverse. I... believe we have something to talk about."

"A talking cat? I've seen weirder things. My name is Ryu, and I appear to be at your service." Ryu wiped his sword with a special cloth a sheathed it, then kneeled before Luna.

* * *

"Luna? I've heard a lot in my sixteen years. There have been people accusing me of being a dragon, an alien, a spy... but a prince from a civilization on the moon a thousand years in the past that was destroyed by an alternate universe is stretching it." Ryu resumed sharpening his katana. He was moderately perturbed about what he had just been told.

"It's true! We didn't expect to find any of the princes here, but only someone from the Lunar Kingdom could ever survive in the Negaverse!"

Ryu sighed. "I am vaguely familiar with the Senshi storyline. What do you want me to do?"

Luna became slightly nervous. "Well, optimistically you would join the current group, but there may be... problems with that."

"What kind of 'problems'?" Ryu cocked an eyebrow and slowly moved his hand back towards the katana.

Luna developed a huge sweat drop. "Well, like I said, we weren't expecting to find any princes here, so... I only have equipment for female Senshi."

All of the color drained from Ryu's face. His head dropped, and the sword clattered on the floor. "I have been in worse situations. Go ahead."

Luna's sweat drop, gratefully, disappeared. She gathered some of her energy and performed another lunar flip, this time materializing Serena's locket, but upside-down.

Ryu picked it up, pulled a length of small chain out of his pocket, and made a necklace.

"Don't you want to try it out?" Luna asked.

"I will when, one, no one could see me, and two, when the need arises. For now, I need to take up residence." Ryu took out his cell phone and slid it open to reveal a keyboard. He started typing rapidly, then nodded. "There's a vacant studio about two miles from here. I've got it isolated... done." He pinpointed the address on GPS and mapped a route, then put away the phone. "Ready."

This time it was Luna's turn to cock an eyebrow. "And that's legal how?"

"Because it used to be my house. And they will find it difficult to prove otherwise as of three years ago." Ryu started walking.

"Technology is scary." Luna said, following him closely.

* * *

Queen Beryll sat on her throne, tired of her worthless minons being unable to gather the energy needed to unleash the Negaforce.

Just as the queen was about to summon her servant working on the Sailor Senshi, she got a strange signal. A rift had formed in the Negaverse, letting a single life form out. Beryll tracked this person onto Earth, where she was surprised to find the he was yet another subject of the moon kingdom. Even better - this prince seemed to have more energy than any of the other Senshi.

Beryll called one of her favorite servants forward. "Herudite! Reveal yourself!"

"Yes, my master!" Herudite faded into view. She was the polar opposite of Ryu, long black hair, red eyes, boring gray uniform. "What do you want, your majesty?"

"I have found a new source of energy on the miserable planet Earth. You are to find this Lunar Prince and suck every last joule of energy you can out of him!"

"Of course, majesty." Herudite faded from view.

(With an energy source that powerful, we can release the Negaforce ahead of schedule!)

* * *

Serena looked around her room and noticed something wrong. In fact, there were two things wrong. Firstly, she was doing her homework willfully. And second, Luna wasn't there pestering her about homework.

Serena got on her communicator and called Mina. "Hey, Mina? Have you and Artemis seen Luna lately?"

"No, we haven't seen Luna since you tripped two days ago. Don't tell me you lost her?"

Meanwhile...

"Luna, I've been on patrol for two hours. I don't think anything's going to show up tonight." Ryu said. He and Luna had been wandering around, trying to sense anything related to the Negaverse. The only thing they got, however, was a cold feeling of rejection.

"Then you should at least practice your Sailor abilities! You're not going to do much good to the scouts if you're still a rookie."

"You mean the powers that may or may not work for me because I'm not a girl? Yeah, I'll get right on that."

Right as Ryu finished talking, He and Luna passed a particularly dark alley. It was so dark that both of them doubled back to gave another look.

"You getting it too?" Ryu asked.

"Yes. Let's go!"

Ryu placed his hand over the katana, and started walking slowly down the corridor. There was definitely an evil presence here. Ryu unclipped the handgrip of the katana, ready for anything.

(Arise, my monster! Capture that boy and take his energy for the Negaverse!)

Ryu jumped back and instantly drew his katana as the unnatural shadows in the alley began to swirl and congeal into a coherent mass. The result was a green, four legged creature with seven unequal eyes, massive sharp claws, and an aura of pure evil.

"Ryu! Now's the time to transform!"

"Not quite." Ryu said. "Unlike Serena and the others, I actually have combat experience." With that, Ryu launched himself at the monster.

Ryu did three sword slashes at it's head, scraping an eye and causing two deep wounds on it's neck. He then somersaulted in the air, landing behind it and lining up for another attack.

"Dragonsword... strike fear into the enemy's mind! Bahamut Slash!"

Ryu's katana began glowing a bright white. He made two arcs with the sword, and just as the monster found him, made a massive swing with the katana, loosing a giant blade of energy!

The monster was thrown backward and slammed into the fire escape from one of the buildings. It fell to the ground, tried to get up, and fainted.

Ryu twirled the sword three times in his hand, then sheathed it. He looked very smug with himself.

(That's interesting.) Luna thought. (Ryu can use some of his lunar powers even in human form.)

"Ha ha ha ha ha! You put on a very interesting show, boy!" Herudite materialized out of the shadows released from the monster's body. "I was expecting you to transform, but I see now that I must force you to do so!" She sent a ball of energy at her creation, which reformed very rapidly and doubled in size.

"And I was looking forward to a peaceful night." Ryu said. "The optimists are disappointed most."

"Ryu! Do it now!" Luna shouted.

"Alright, already! Moon Prism Power!"

Ryu raised his hand, all five fingernails sparkling in the moonlight. His skin turned multicolored, and his body spun twice. The locket sprouted several rose-colored streamers which wrapped around Ryu's torso, forming the base fuku. More streamers went around his arms as Ryu crossed them over his head and made white elbow length gloves. A second set of streamers went on his legs, forming knee length rose boots with two inch heels.

A blue mini skirt formed around Ryu's waist. He threw his head back, and a small crescent moon symbol appeared briefly on his forehead, quickly replaced by the jewel of a gold tiara. A pair of crescent moon earrings formed, and Ryu opened his eyes and back-flipped, then struck a pose as a huge crescent appeared behind him.

Luna's sweatdrop reappeared. (That's... a little more disturbing than I thought it would be.)

Ryu examined his new body. All of his freckles below the neck and leg hair had been removed, and he felt a signifigant decrease in mass. He was still male, though.

"Hmm. I look forward to running some DNA tests on this form soon."

"Unfortunately, you won't get that chance! Prepare to start serving the Negaverse, you crossdressing brat!"

"Hey! I didn't choose to do this! Blame the universal chaos energy for that!" Ryu shouted. He reached for his sword, but found nothing but empty air. "Hey! Where'd my katana go!?"

Now it was Luna's turn to shout. "Look out, Sailor Moon-San!"

As Ryu was searching for his blade, the shadow monster had taken the initiative and melted into the ground, then reformed behind Ryu! He barely had time to dodge and avoid turning into a confused stain on the concrete. "No matter! You're still no match for me, even without the Dragonsword!"

Ryu grasped the tiara on his forehead, letting it flicker once before pulling it off. He drew his arm back, and made the tiara start spinning magically. He pulled his arm back in front of him, did a pirouette, and prepared to throw it.

"Moon... Tiara... Magic!"

Ryu let the tiara fly straight at the monster. It impacted, shattering it to bits. He jumped and caught his weapon, doing another somersault and landing gracefully on his feet despite the footwear.

"Is that all you've got, negascum?"

"As a matter of fact, no!" Herudite sent another dose of energy at her monster, revitalizing it yet again. "You can't hit both of us with that one piece of plastic!"

Ryu looked at the tiara in his right hand and got an idea. "You're right." He focused his magical energy into the piece, and duplicated it: each with half of the red jewel of the original.

Ryu repeated the move with one of them. "Moon Tiara Magic!"

The tiara once again flew toward the monster and obliterated it. However, as Herudite started laughing again, Ryu threw the second one!

"Tiara Magic!"

Herudite gasped as she saw the white frisbee coming at her. She was even more distressed to see that Ryu had redirected the other one at her too! With nowhere to go in the alley, she took the full force of both attacks!

Herudite screamed as her atoms ripped apart and teleported back to the Negaverse. She shouted at Ryu, "My name is Herudite. You were lucky, we'll meet again!" She screamed one more time as her body completely vanished.

Later that night...

"So, how did I do as a 'rookie' Sailor Senshi, Luna?"

Ryu and Luna had returned to his studio, where they had a large victory dinner after the successful battle. Ryu was still eating - Luna, however had a much smaller stomach.

"Well, let's see." Luna said. "You started your mission as a Senshi, defeated a Negaverse monster without even transforming, reinvented an attack more than a thousand years old in less than a minute, and defeated one of Queen Beryll's henchmen on your first try. I'd say you did splendidly!"

Ryu chuckled. "I have a lot more reinventing to do before I'll be comfortable as a Senshi. Thanks for your support back there."

"It's part of my mission."

* * *

"Herudite! Explain to me how you could have failed against a teenage boy!" Queen Beryll was extremely upset. Het best servant had been defeated by some kid seemingly without effort!

"Your majesty, it was simply a small error on my part. I didn't predict that the boy could use Senshi powers that good right away. It will not happen again."

"For your sake, Herudite, I hope so. You are dismissed."

"Your majesty, I have something else to report. It may be another way to collect energy for the Negaforce."

"Go on."

"Before he attacked me, the boy shouted something about the 'universal chaos energy' bringing him here. I don't know what he meant, but maybe you do?"

Beryll was intrigued. "Unfortunately, I too know nothing about this 'chaos energy'. I will look into it though. For now, you are to continue to collect energy from 'Sailor Moon-San', as well as find out what chaos energy is. Now go!"

Herudite bowed, then faded from view.

Author's Notes:

Let's pretend we have a time machine. Go WAYYYYY back, ten years ago, when I was six. I was writing my first fanfic at that point. This is a MAJOR rewrite of that story. On the plus side, my english ten years ago wasn't that bad.

So, where will Ryu go from here? Will he eventually join up with the Sailor Scouts? Or will he just be a freelancer of justice?

That's up to Serena.

Sorry about the update drought. Writing should pick up again in summer - school and too many ideas often are a bad idea.


	2. Chapter 2

Serena paced around her room, almost bored to her wit's end. She hadn't seen Luna for a week - A week with nothing to do but homework and talk to the other Senshi. Even worse, nothing had happened that could qualify as Sailor buisness.

There was a call on Serena's communicator. It was Amy, and she looked a litle distressed.

"Serena! We think something's happened to Luna. We're meeting up at the arcade in an hour, so you better be there!" The link was cut at Amy's end.

Serena sighed, then picked up her bookbag and walked out the door, shouting "Be back later!" to her mom.

***

Ryu sat in front of what looked like a stone well. What made it interesting was that it was in the exact middle of his bedroom. He was tinkering in an access pannel on the side, with a small hammer, a set of fine tools, soldering iron, hotglue gun, enough wire to mummify someone, and a lot of circuit boards.

"What are you doing there, Ryu?" Luna asked. She had just walked in, risking life and limb treading over all of the things Ryu had on the floor at the moment.

"I'm trying to revive something I had before I was transported here." Ryu said, not looking away from his work. "This is called a viewing well. It will give me partial control over chaos energy."

Luna sat down next to Ryu. "Exactly what is this chaos energy you've been talking about?"

"That's like trying to explain how magic works." Ryu got up from the panel, finished, and ran a cable to his computer. "Put in a way us mortals can understand it, chaos energy is the very fabric of the universe. As the universe expands, more chaos energy is created. Thus, it is impossible to ever have full control. It's impossible to tell just how the energy was created, but some of it has been dated to before the big bang."

"And why do you think it brought you here?"

"Because this is a side universe. There's a reason why you weren't expecting to find a lunar prince yet."

Luna tried to process that information, and failed miserably. So, she moved on to more important questions. "Is there any way the Negaverse could somehow get control of it?"

"I highly doubt it. From what I can tell, the Negaverse was created by very advanced magic, and therefore does not have any chaos energy."

***

Herudite stood above her viewing crystal, perplexed by what she had just seen. Side universe? Increasing amounts of chaos energy? This human was getting more and more confusing.

Beryll's face appeared in the crystal. "Report."

"I have some good news and bad news. Do you have any leads about chaos energy?"

"Unfortunately, the Negaverse's archives do not contain anything about it."

Herudite's face darkened. "I think I know why. Ryu said that the Negaverse was created by some very powerful magic. That apparently means that Chaos energy does not exist in it."

"And? What's the good news?"

"Chaos energy levels are constantly rising as the universe expands. If we can find a way to access it, we will have an unlimited supply of very potent energy."

"Very well, Herudite. I leave this matter in your capable hands." Beryll dissappeared.

Herudite laughed at the ironics of the situation. Capturing Ryu for his energy was no longer an objective, yet now they needed to capture him for his information on chaos energy. She resumed watching Ryu and began hatching a plan on how to get him.

***

"Raye? Have you noticed anything different about Serena lately?" Amy asked. She, Raye, Mina, and Lita were already at the arcade, waiting for Serena to show up.

"Yeah, she's more air-cased than usual, and later than ever." Raye crossed her arms, not intent on continuing the conversation.

"What about you, Lita?"

"You know, now that you mention it, I remember the other day she didn't want to talk to me because she was doing homework."

Both Raye and Mina reacted. "What?!"

Amy chuckled. "I guess being Sailor Moon has taught her some responsibility."

"Speak of the devil. Here she comes, late as usual." Raye said.

"Hey!" Amy responded. "I told everyone an hour. By my watch, she still has tweny minutes to go."

Raye checked her own watch and confirmed Amy's time. She was mildly surprised.

"Hey, girls. What's up?"

Mina spoke up first. "Amy's been running some simulations on her computer. We think that the recent decline in Negaverse activity is because of Luna's disappearence."

Serena sat down next to her. "Could they have captured Luna?"

"Anything's possible right now." Amy said. "I think I have a way to track Luna. If we all focus our powers at the moon wand right at the moment of a full moon, we should be able to reset it's homing capabilities to lunar energy."

"When's the next full moon?"

Amy checked her computer. "Tonight, at twelve thirty seven."

Serena sighed. "Alright. Everyone get ready for another short nap tonight."

There was a long pause. Raye and Lita went to actually play something, but Mina went home for rehearsal. That left Serena and Amy sitting on the bench.

"Serena... Have you been feeling different lately?"

Serena thought for a second, then shook her head. "No. I feel fine."

"Are you sure? You seem different."

"Well, I'm bored out of my mind now that Luna's gone."

Amy got up. "Would you like to play Sailor V? It'll be my treat."

"Nah, I've got to get back home. Homework waits for no one." Serena got up and started walking home. Amy was stunned. She was unable to do anything for about thirty seconds after Serena disappeared from view. She ran over to Lita and Raye, speaking unintelligibly.

"Serena just... She didn't want to... She went for... Homework... Gahhhhh!"

Amy passed out in a slump on the arcade floor. Lita and Raye carried her back over to the bench and performed first aid.

Andrew walked over to the three girls. "What's going on?"

"Amy just passed out." Raye said. "She was talking about Serena and homework."

"Well, let's get her behind the counter. We've got a bed in a back room."

Andrew and Lita proceded to pick Amy up and carry her behind the counter.

***

"It's a full moon tonight, Luna." Ryu said. He consulted his cell phone. "Looks like it'll reach peak around twelve thirty-seven."

Luna looked at the moon. "It's seems peculiar tonight.. as if something's going to happen..."

Ryu shrugged. "Well, let's head to the park. We've got a good vantage point of the city there."

"Okay, let's go."

***

"Herudite! What is your plan for capturing Ryu?" Queen Beryll demanded.

Herudite looked up from her crystal ball. "It is simple, your highness. I will cause a large distraction in the city's park and wait for him to arrive. After that, I will personally use my powers to secure him for the information he has about chaos energy!"

"And what if the Sailor Scouts show up?"

"I have a set of monsters that will be able to keep them occupied until I have Ryu and escape."

Beryll smiled. "Very well. Do not fail again, Herudite."

***

Serena closed her math book, finally done with her homework. She slumped over on the book, too tired to contintue.

It was at that point that Serena's clock rang. Time to meet up with the sailor scouts. She waited a minute, then picked herself up and walked out the door.

At the park...

"Serena, have you been feeling O.K. recently?" Lita asked. She and the other scouts were already at the park, again in front of Serena.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why are you all worried about me?"

Amy and Lita looked at each other. "Serena... You've been acting really strange. You passed up arcade time for homework! Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

Serena looked around. The only other person at the park was a teenager who appeared to have a katana hilt sewn into his pants. He was currently asleep, so Serena and the scouts could attempt to track down Luna.

"It's almost time. We should transform." Serena said.

Everyone checked their own watch, then nodded.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

Ryu heard five people shouting in the middle of the night, concluded they were crazy, and went back to sleep without opening his eyes. Luna had went off on patrol, so he decided to get some rest in case the Negaverse decided to show up.

When the Sailor Scouts' transformations ended, Serena brought out the crescent moon wand. "Let's go! We've got one minute!"

"Mercury Bubbles! Blast!

"Mars Fire... Ignite!"

"Jupiter Thunder! Crash!"

"Venus Crescent Beam! Smash!

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

All five attacks hit the moon wand right as the full moon peaked and began waning. The wand started blinking in the direction of the nearest source of Lunar energy.

Unfortunately... (Although fortunately for Ryu)

Right at that point, Herudite and her five minions stepped out of a Negaverse portal. The monsters looked like harpys that had been upgraded with scales of five different colors.

Ryu began to slink away, but was paralyzed when he got behind the bench as the Sailor Scouts started shouting their introductions.

"Stop right there, Negatrash!" Ryu heard Serena say. "You aren't going to do anything here!"

(What. I thought this park was going to be deserted tonight?) Herudite thought. "Ha! this is just an opportunity to gather more energy for the Negaverse!"

"I don't think so! I am Sailor Moon!"

"I am Sailor Venus!"

"I am Sailor Mercury!"

"I am Sailor Jupiter!"

"And I am Sailor Mars!"

All five girls struck a pose, and Serena kept going. "I am the champion of justice! I will right wrongs and triumph over evil! And that means you!"

(That took way too long.) Ryu thought. "Guess I'll help 'em out. Moon Prism Power!"

When Ryu's transformation ended, he caught the katana in the air and looked over his body again. "Luna... we have **got** to do something about this soon." Ryu then ran back over to the Sailor Scouts.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

Serena threw her tiara at the last of the harpys, which exploded on contact. Herudite grimaced, then saw Ryu out of the corner of her eye. "There you are! Prepare to face the powers of the Negaverse!"

The five Sailor Scouts looked over and saw what looked like a male version of Sailor Moon! Herudite snapped her fingers and all five harpys reanimated. Ryu grabbed his own tiara, pulled it off, and to Serena's surprise it split in two!

"Moon... Tiara... Double Magic!"

Ryu threw his tiara, which went down two paths. Both of them destroyed the five monsters and continued on to Herudite!

She, however, had different ideas than getting blasted. Rather than stand in the way of the two tiaras, she bent way back and dodged both of them, then snapped back up and opened up another portal, back to the Negaverse.

"And you stay there, Nega scum!" Ryu shouted, catching both tiaras and recombining them.

"Hang on there! How can we be sure you're not with the Negaverse and this isn't an act?" Serena demanded.

(Uh oh.) Ryu's hand instinctivly went to the katana, but he forced himself to calm down. Without Luna, Ryu was going to have a hell of a time explaining this.

"Let's see... where to start..."

Meanwhile, Serena and the others were conversing.

"What do you think? Should we trust him?" Serena asked

"He looks like you, Serena. He's probably a Sailor Scout." Raye said.

"We already have a Scout from the moon. He's an imposter!"

"Uh, girls? I think I can explain now."

Lita spun around. "If he's on our side, then we can knock him out anyway! Jupiter Thunder!"

"Uh oh. Again." Ryu readied his katana.

"Crash!"

A huge bolt of lightning raced toward Ryu, but he was already prepared. "Bahamut Slash!"

The lightning collided with the energy blade. Jupiter's attack dissipated, but Ryu's kept going! His attack slammed into Jupiter, who didn't get up after she was hit.

"Jupiter!" Serena shouted. "That proves it! Attack him all at once! Moon Tiara Magic!"

The three other Scouts looked at each other and nodded.

"Mercury Bubbles! Blast!"

Ryu's vision fogged up. He couldn't see too far ahead, but he still had his hearing.

"Venus Crescent V Smash!"

Ryu turned around, but he wasn't fast enough to counter the attack. He got hit in the left shoulder, which wasn't his main arm, but it still hurt like hell.

"Moon, Tiara..." Serena began.

Ryu zeroed in on the sound and began his own attack. "Dragon Sword, stun all of my enemies!"

"Magic!"

"Blade Beam!"

Ryu brought the katana around himself, and then swung it up high. Right as he was about to slash downward, Raye decided to act.

"Mars Fire... Ignite!"

The fireball hit Ryu's sword, knocking it out of his hand. The fog dissapated, but not in time for Ryu to dodge Serena's attack! Ryu took the full force of it, tried to stay up, and fainted.

Author's Notes:

Well, things sure have taken a turn! Where did Luna go? She's around...

Don't plan on this being a drawn-out series - I've only got a short outline for this.


	3. Chapter 3

Insert Self, Senshi

Chapter 3

By Ryu Himora

Ryu was in his bedroom amidst a massive pile of electronics and stone. He was currently bent over a control panel for what looked like a stone well one and a half feet high in the center of the room. It even had water in it. Luna walked into the room and had to tread very lightly, as there were fine tools, bits of metal, and other small, sharp objects littering the floor. She eventually got to Ryu and sat down in one of the few clearings.

"What are you doing, Ryu?"

He took a few seconds before responding. "Making something that I had in my home universe. Its called a celestial viewing well. If this works, I should have control over a very small amount of chaos energy."

"You've never really told me what that is." Luna said.

Ryu paused. "It's sort of like explaining how magic works. Except different. Basically, chaos energy is everything - it makes up all of the atoms in the universe. Most of it is free and unrefined, which is the kind I'm tring to capture with this well. Also, as the universe expands, more chaos energy is created. It's impossible to have control over all it at once."

Luna nodded. "So, you think it brought you here?"

"I have no reason to believe that someone specifically targeted me and brought me into this universe. It was either a random event, or something that neither of us knows about is affecting this universe."

The console started beeping. Ryu tapped a few commands into it, then smiled. "Well, that was a lot faster than I expected. I have access to fifteen megajoules of chaos energy."

Luna had no idea how much that was. "What can you do with that?"

Ryu punched three buttons, then put his hands in the water. Luna felt something grab her middle claw and raise it into the air. "Hey! Stop that."

Ryu smiled, then took his hand out of the water. Luna noticed that it was perfectly dry. She was about to say something when Ryu's computer beeped. He sat down in the chair, and started typing. "Dammit. Cache overloaded from the Well's programming. Let's go to the arcade; I can finish testng this later."

"Why the arcade?" Luna asked. Serena and the other scouts might be there right now - it was saturday.

"Because I need to play something while this reboots." Ryu gathered his mobile gear, cleaned a path to the door, and went into the public for the first time in two days.

Luna flexed her claw, thinking about what Ryu had done. What could he do with more of this chaos energy? And for that matter, what if the Negaverse somehow gained control of it? Luna hoped Ryu knew what he was doing, otherwise the Sailor Scouts may not be able to stop this evil.

* * *

Ryu focused very intently on his side-scroller, noting that his score at this point was much lower than what he could do on his phone. No matter - he needed to get out anyway, as the probability of an attack happening to day way very high. Ryu was not very attuned to what was happening around him, in a zen-like state of gaming that no one he knew of could replicate.

Ryu was yanked from his game when there was a very loud crash. His sheer will allowed Ryu to get to a safe spot and pause before looking up, but immediatley ducked back down. He saw Mina and Raye, with Mina on the ground, with one of the arcade employees trying to lift her into the back room. Ryu quickly hid the lunar pendant in his shirt, hoping the Senshi wouldn't all come there. He pulled out his phone to check the reboot status of his home computer.

While he had the device out, the girl next to him noticed it. "You have the third model? Um... can I get an OS rewrite from you? My kernel decided to partially destory itself."

Ryu phone was the second revision of the base model, and it was special because it had root access, allowing him to install applications normally unavailable. "Sure. Ill need your number and bluetooth password."

After a slightly awkward transfer of data, the girl smiled. "Thanks. My name's Michelle. What's yours?"

"Ryu. You seem to be rather tech-savvy."

* * *

Meanwhile...

"Serena!!"

Serena jumped a mile. Her communicator was flashing like an angry eye, which she carefully picked up. "What is it Amy?"

"Luna's missing. We haven't seen her for a week. I've figured out a way to reset the Moon Wand to track her, but we need you to meet us tonight at the park. Can you remember that?"

"Yeah, yeah." Serena said. The line shut off. Come to think of it, She hadn't seen Luna recently either. Why would she slink off like this?

* * *

Later that evening...

Ryu sat on a bench in one of the city parks. He was once again playing with his cell phone, albeit with a different purpose. He was tapping into recent telescope pictures from all over the world, looking for something... odd. Ryu didn't quite know what he was looking for, but it felt important.

After a few hours of this, Ryu finally looked up. His concentration had been so intense that he didn't notice the moon come up, full. Ryu took a full minute to take in what the area looked like under reduced lighting, then looked up when the moon would reach full intensity - 12:34. Hmm, a coincidence?

"So Luna, when are you going to introduce the other scouts to me?"

Luna stopped in her tracks. She had been very slowly moving for the last several minutes toward Ryu from behind. Was there any weakness this person had?

"I'm still trying to get used to you in the Senshi uniform. What effect do you think it will have on the girls if their trainer can't stand something?"

"Fair enough, but you've seen me defeat strong enemies without transforming."

Luna had no answer to that. She leapt over the back of the bench and beside Ryu. He had begun to look up, staring like a lost child into the sky. She noticed his eyes. They were... different, somehow. The pupils weren't exactly circular. They seemed to be elongating, as if Ryu weren't completely human.

Ryu had focused on a star, right in the center of the Milky Way band. He looked at it for another while, seemingly not blinking.

A twig snapped to the east.

Luna merely looked, but Ryu leapt over the bench and hid behind it. Luna saw who it was, then did the same - Serena and the other Scouts had just walked in.

"So how are we going to do this, Amy?"

"We need to focus all of our power at the moon wand right as the moon reaches it's apex. That's in twelve minutes, so let's get started."

Serena sighed, then looked up and raised her hand.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

Sailor Mercury checked her computer, then nodded. "Let's go!"

"Moon Prism Power, Make up!"

"Mercury Power, Make up!"

"Mars Power, Make up!"

"Jupiter Power, Make up!"

"Venus Power, Make up!"

All five Scouts glowed their respective colors, then they each held hands with the Moon Wand in the middle.

"Sailor Power!"

The three lights on the moon wand started flashing.

"MAKE UP!"

BANG!

There was a loud sound of a record scratching to a halt. Each of the five Scouts winced and looked over to the park's water feature.

The sight of a closing Negaverse portal and five monsters jerked them out of any fatigue. They immediately began re-powering their attacks.

"Mars Fire, Ignite!"

"Jupiter Thunder, Crash!"

"Venus Crescent V, Smash!"

The three attacks sped towards the five color-coded harpies. They looked about to hit -

- But were absorbed completely. The three harpies that corresponded to their attacks stepped in front and took the hits.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

"Dark Shot!"

Herudite sent a ball of energy at Sailor Moon's tiara. The forces cancelled out, and it fell harmlessly to the ground.

"Crap." Ryu said. He fished the locket from his shirt, and set the Katana on the ground. "You'd better get used to this real quick, Luna, because the Scouts need my help." His mind barely registered that Luna was not there.

"Moon Prism Power!"

Ryu again transformed into the male Sailor Moon, thankfully out of earshot of the other scouts. He approached the battlefield quickly and began his own attack.

"Moon Tiara Double Magic!"

Herudite saw both tiaras come at her, then effortlessly sent blasts of energy at them.

"Bahamut Slash!"

She was not, however, ready for the _third_ attack. It blasted right through her open arms and sent her and her minions back into the Negaverse.

"Huh. That was more powerful than I thought." Ryu said. He flipped his katana into a backhanded stance, then remembered about the other people in the park. "Oh. Hi there."

"Who are you!?!" Serena shouted. She ran over and picked up her own tiara, holding it at the ready.

Ryu stroked his chin for a second. "I actually don't know. I was hoping to have found out by now."

The five Scouts looked at Ryu. It was a peculiar sight, a boy in their uniform, but not that strange compared to what they had seen. It was still disturbing, though.

"If he's on our side, we can hit him anyway!" Jupiter said. "Jupiter Thunder,"

"Dragon Sword, stun my surrounding foes! Thunder-"

"Blast!"

Jupiter's attack hit Ryu's sword right as it was about to swing. It was knocked out of his hands, and Serena lined up her own.

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Ryu was then pegged right in the stomach. The wind was knocked out of him, and he transformed back to his civilian form.

* * *

Ryu awoke, grogilly, to the sound of someone falling over. He opened his right eye and saw all five sailor scouts, still transformed, with Serena on the ground and all of the others just looking at her. Ryu managed to sneak his cell phone out and check the time - it was past two in the morning.

As Ryu was putting it away, he got a message. All five scouts instantly looked over, and Mercury started walking to him. Ryu managed to flash-read the message before she got there.

I can't sleep.

Are you awake?

Michelle

212 555 0142

Sailor Mercury snatched the cell phone away and checked it. Satisfied, she tossed it back as the other Scouts came up.

"Alright, you little copycat, start talking!" Serena shouted. Ryu's first instinct when confronting girls like this was to go for his katana, but before he could reach for it, His sense of touch failed to confirm it's location on his left leg.

Ryu looked squarely at Sailor Moon. "Serena." He turned to Mercury. "Amy. Raye, Lita, and Mina. Five of the solar princesses. I should have expected to run into you sooner." Ryu sat up and clutched at his necklace. "I know who you are, so I should introduce myself. I am Ryu Himora. I assume that you were trying to reset the Crescent Moon Wand to search for lunar energy?"

Amy nodded. "Luna's been gone for over a week. I think we managed to do it, but then you and Herudite showed up and interrupted the process."

Ryu smiled. "I know where she is. She might have seen the battle and headed for us, but I can still find her." He walked up and grabbed his katana, but didn't sheath it; instead he presented it to Serena. "I surrender my weapon to you as a sign of good faith, and so that we can fight as friends."

Serena hesitated, then took the blade handle first. Everyone except Ryu expected her to drop it - but Serena held it as though she had Ryu's skill.

Ryu guestured in a direction, and the six of them all started walking. Serena couldn't stop thinking about the sword - It was heavy, but perfectly balanced. No wonder he could use it so well.

* * *

Herudite stood once again above her harpy monsters, regenerating them for a second assault on the lunar prince. She hoped to strike while that clutz, Sailor Moon, still had possesion of his sword, which would hopefully give her an advantage with the upgraded monsters.

Herudite saw her chance - the six earthlings had found their worthless cat. Quickly, while they were distracted!

* * *

Ryu unlocked the door to his studio, and opened the door without a sound. Sure enough, the east window had been opened - Luna was, or had been, here.

"Luna! We've got company!" Ryu called out. There was some rustling in the back room, then a black figure crept out, blending among the shadows.

Ryu turned the lights on with his phone. Luna was caught off guard and stiffened up, but Ryu just walked over and picked her up.

Serena, however, was way to overjoyed to think about anything else. "Luna!" She yelled, and ran toward her.

Before anyone could react to Serena running with a very sharp object, Ryu bent down, pinched the blade with his thumb and digit finger, and twisted it out of her hand while simultaneously tossing Luna into the air with just enough force that Serena would catch her.

Now, had anyone other than Serena been in the equation, it would not have turned into an epic fail. Ryu was face down on the ground, Luna stuck to one of the ceiling rafters, Serena on top of Ryu, and the katana several inches in the ground.

Ryu grunted. "Please get off me. It's hard enough trying to figure out how this happened."

Several seconds later, when he got no responce, Amy said "I think she's out cold."

"Then I shall use my latent telekinetic powers to lift the sword from the ground and into my hand!" Ryu yelled, and slammed his right fist. "HEARRRRRGH!"

The four conscious Sailor Scouts gained a large sweatdrop. The intended effect of the action, however, was not to fail at telekinesis, but to make a very loud noise. Serena moaned and slowly got up. Ryu yanked his sword out of the ground with a sharp twang, then sheathed it.

A few seconds later, much to Ryu's dismay, a dark purple dot on a wall suddenly caught everyone's attention, because it was expanding into a Negaverse portal. Herudite and her five minons charged out, but Ryu was able to react fast enough.

"Thunder Slash!"

Ryu's sword produced a wicked bolt of electricity, which paralyzed only four of the five harpies. Herudite, however, managed to dodge it, and started laughing. "It will take more than that to defeat me this time! Rise, my elementals!"

The five monsters broke the bolt of lightning that surrounded them and prepared to attack, as did the Sailor Scouts. Ryu took a second to formulate plans, and decided that there was no hope for the structural integrity of the building, so he went first.

"Bahamut Slash!"

The west wall was blown out, and five figures went with it. Ryu tossed his katana to the side and grabbed his necklace, ready to join the Scouts again, who had already gotten out of the wreckage. "Moon Prism Power!"

Ryu's transformation was accompanied by a volley of attacks from the other scouts.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!

"Jupiter Thunder Crash"

"Venus Crescent V Smash!"

Four of the monsters stepped up and took the attacks full force. They stepped back a little, but appeared to be unharmed. Ryu's sequence finished, and he struck a pose, ready for the fight.

"As you can see," Herudite said, "We are impervious to your attacks now. Prepare to be anihilated, lunar prince!" She raised her hand, and a ball of black energy began to collect in it. Ryu picked up his katana and held it at the ready, ignoring the stares from the other Scouts.

"I don't care what you creeps are resistant to, we'll beat them anyway!" Ryu held his sword out and opened his palm. The katana floated in the air and circled once, creating a ball of fire. That dropped to the ground, and as it dissipated, four green orbs burst from the ground and ascended into the sky.

Ryu's sword landed point-down and penetrated five inches into the stone. Storm clouds rapidly formed above them, then split apart right at the moon. At first, Serena and the others couldn't see anything, but soon there was a huge winged figure coming down from the sky.

"I summon you, Bahamut, king of the universe!" Ryu put his right hand out as Bahamut landed behind him, destroying what was left of his house. Bahamut, a huge blue-black dragon, roared with enough force to rip trees out of the ground. Herudite was suddenly unsure about her chances of winning, and departed to the Negaverse.

"Dragon's Fire!"

Bahamut opened his mouth and a stream of fire twice as tall as Ryu rocketed from him and destroyed four of the five harpies, leaving only the fire-resistant one standing.

Ryu fell to his knees. His sword fell over and Bahamut disappeared, one particle at a time, back into the sky. "Now!" Ryu said, weakly, to Serena.

Serena lifted her tiara off her head again. She brought it to her right side, and it began to spin with lunar energy.

"Moon Tiara... Magic!"

The last harpy screamed as her existence was erased by Sailor Moon. Ryu smiled, then reverted back to his human form and fell unconcious.

Author's Notes

Ah. That's where I put Luna.

You may have noticed from this and my Halo fic that my other selves are modified in some way. This is because even if I was following the Fanfiction Prime Directive, something would get blown up that would really piss off the main characters. I might get around to doing 'real' versions of the Insert Self fics... but that's on the backburner right now.

In the next episode, we find the source of Ryu's power, and his link to the Dragons. Also, when this takes place in the Sailor Moon storyline... and Ryu's true hertiage with the Lunar Kingdom.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Blarg Honk Blarg Blarg, Honk Honk Blarg Honk Honk, Blargy Honk Blarg.

Insert Self, Senshi

Chapter Four

Ryu was falling.

Not by much, only a few feet per second, but it was still disconcerting. He appeared to be in a massive planetarium of some kind there were stars all around him, and he could count all nine planets.

Ryu eventually noticed he was on course for Earth's moon. Judging by it's size and the speed he was going, he figured out that it would be a trip of several months.

That thought was put aside, however, as Ryu saw seven black figures materialize in front of him. His right hand instant went for his sword, but he didn't have it. That left only one option.

"Moon Prism Power!"

Ryu's transformation was as smooth as the first one. He briefly wondered how he was breathing, but put that thought aside as well. Ryu pulled his tiara off and reared it back as it started spinning, then threw it at the figures.

"Moon Tiara, Double Magic!"

The tiara split in midair and destroyed the center left and center right ones. They circled around and got the rest with a side on attack, then returned to Ryu, who caught them both and then recombined them on his forehead.

"Oh, my son, I'm so sorry."

"Huh?"

Ryu suddenly sped up. He crossed the threshold of the Moon's gravity, then slowed down and gently landed on a small concrete platform in the middle of a vast ruin. He saw a woman and the other end of the platform, someone so beautiful it could only have been one person.

"Queen Serenity." Ryu said, and then fell to one knee. She walked over and touched him on his tiara gem, then Ryu reverted to his civilian form.

"I must apologize, son, for there was so much to do. There were details I had forgotten. Please stand."

Ryu stood up. The locket separated itself from his necklace and floated in the air, immobile. "This was not your memento of your heritage. And yet, you received it anyway. Luna does not have your item, nor will she ever. But you shall possess it soon, after we discuss another matter."

"What would that be?" Ryu asked.

"I know the silver crystal has not been activated yet, but you do not recognize me as your mother, correct?"

Ryu thought about it. "No. I do not sense a connection."

Serenity turned away. "That is.. regrettable, but normal. You see, we were only one influence on your life." Ryu's katana appeared in the air, next to the locket. "The Dragon Sword. An impressive piece of magic. It was your real mother's gift. You seem to have mastered using it - I saw you summon Bahamut."

"I think I've figured it out." Ryu said. "I was adopted."

The queen turned back to Ryu, her eyes almost at tears. "Yes. You were the Draconic kingdom's last hope. If only they had known how we were to end..." Ryu saw a single tear drip from her cheek. He felt an emotion - not quite love- blossom in his body.

Another necklace appeared with Ryu's katana and the locket. This one had a gold dragon on the front, coiled around the center with red eyes. The center was a beautiful blue-white crystal surrounded by fire, and the rest of it was also gold.

"This was supposed to be a wedding present from your father." the queen said. "However, I think the circumstances require that you receive it now. I must say goodbye for now; I'm growing weaker. But you may visit this place whenever you like." She smiled, and leant closer to Ryu, until her lips almost-

"Gah!"

Ryu bolted upright on an unfamiliar bed. He obsessively looked around for his katana, spotting it almost instantly, and dove out of the bed for it.

Ami, who had been reading a book when Ryu awoke, could barely react fast enough to dodge him. Ryu the sword very close to himself, and almost started crying.

"Ryu! Are you okay?" Amy asked.

Ryu looked at his necklace. It was the same locket as before, but he sensed something... different about it. Amy got up and opened the door. "Serena! He woke up!"

A minute later, the other four girls came into the room. Ryu looked up, and said "That's the second time in a row that I've woken up in your custody. I'm not sure if that's a bad sign or not."

Serena sat down next to Ryu. "You passed out after you summoned that dragon. You're pretty heavy, y'know."

Ryu looked at the Dragon Sword. He remembered the Queens words and began to grip the blade tighter, but despite it's sharpness it didn't cut him. "How long was I out?"

"Three days. We managed without you, though."

"What did I miss?"

Serena sighed. "We got the seventh rainbow crystal. Tuxedo Mask still has two, and Beryll has four. However..."

"What?" Ryu said.

"Tuxedo Mask seems to have turned renegade. He wants the crystals for himself to get the Silver Crystal."

Ryu thought about it for a minute. He released his grip on the sword and sheathed it, then stood up. "I need to see what's left of my viewing well. Maybe there's enough to do a divination." He took one step, and noticed the looks on the girls' faces. "What?"

Amy spoke, nervously. "Well... Bahamut completely crushed the entire building. There wasn't anything left except a few pieces of stone and circuit board."

Ryu's expression turned blank. He took a deep breath and began to say a single word: "Ffff-"

"So," Luna said, walking into the room, "How's Ryu?"

"Extremely mad." He said. "What's our next move?

It was Luna's turn to sigh. "Well... Nothing. We can probably get Tuxedo Mask back on our side, but we need to wait for the Negaverse to appear again for the other four crystals."

"I'll take care of that."

"Huh!?"

All five girls looked at Ryu. He simply smiled and gathered his electronics, then started for the door. "But first, there are people I must see. Thank you for letting me recover in your house." Ryu bowed, and the five stunned scouts could do nothing but stare.

* * *

An hour later, Ryu was waiting on a bench back in the park. He had gotten a battery-powered charger for his phone and was playing an intense game on it.

Ryu briefly thought about Queen Serenity's words. She had shown him some new pendant, but she didn't give it to him. He wondered what it would do, a new sailor form, or something from the Draconian kingdom?

Ryu was jerked out of his thought process as he lost the game. He blinked, then put it away. He scanned the area and realized that he almost missed his target - Darion was walking along the stone path. Right as he passed, Ryu stood up and tapped him on the right shoulder.

Darion grunted and turned around. "Hey! What are you-"

Ryu interrupted. "I know you plan to challenge Zoycite."

There was a very long pause. The two just stood there, looking at each other. The other people in the park walked by and gave them strange looks. Eventually, Darion noticed something... familiar about Ryu's necklace.

"Hey, Serena wears something like that."

Ryu smiled. "You're going to need help tonight. I should at least take a look at that shoulder."

Darion frowned. "They told me to come alone."

"Then we will alter the deal. Now let's get back to your apartment."

Darion hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded. They kept an uneasy silence during the walk back to the complex. When they got to the room, Ryu suddenly became a lot more talkative. "You have two of the Rainbow Crystals, correct?"

"Uh, yeah. What's up?"

"Do you really think that you can get the Silver Imperium Crystal without Serena? It was made of lunar energy, and I highly doubt that either the Earth prince or the Negaverse could activate the Rainbow Crystals to get it."

Darion stood there, stunned at what Ryu had said. He then picked up on a pair of words Ryu should not have said. "Earth prince...?"

Ryu flinched mentally. He had to take a full second to formulate his response. "That's not important right now. Take off your shirt, please."

Darion was suspicious at how Ryu rushed off the subject, but also decided that it could be discussed later. He peeled off the bloodstained jacket and t-shirt, then sat on the couch. Ryu walked over and inspected the damage.

"This is a puncture wound. You were lucky it wasn't a few inches lower." Ryu said. He pulled out his katana and whispered something, and the blade started glowing green.

"What are you-" Darion started, but was cut off by a lance of pain. Ryu raised the katana and stabbed it down at Darion's wound. It stopped just before the skin level and started radiating green spires. They filled the entire hole and Ryu retracted his blade, then the magic completed it's work and faded, leaving a perfect match of flesh and skin where the wound had been.

Darion's shoulder still stung, but it felt much better. He got up and went for a clean shirt, then sat down with Ryu. "So, now what?"

Ryu sighed. He had to be careful not to slip up again and let out future knowledge. "Serena will probably try to follow you. We'll have to take a route to the tower that avoids her house and hang-out areas." He pulled out his cell phone and booted the map application, then started the trip computer and detoured around any areas the Serena was likely to be, then committed it to memory and checked his watch. "If we leave now, we'll have a ten minute buffer zone. Ready?"

Darion nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

It had been an hour since Ryu had left Serena's house. She and the four Scouts had searched the entire city for him, to no avail. Ryu had vanished from the face of the Earth.

At 3 o' clock, the five of them split up and went home. Serena went directly to her room and slumped on the bed, half from exhaustion and half from her worries.

"I take it you didn't find him." Luna said. She walked into the room and jumped on the bed.

"We didn't even see him. Even worse, he somehow got a hold of our rainbow crystal. Now we don't have any of them!"

Luna sighed. "I don't know about you, but I trust Ryu. He's probably made up a plan to get them all back."

"That's easy for you to say. Why did you hide him from us in the first place?"

"Serena..." Luna hesitated. "Ryu has some of his memories from the Lunar kingdom. That's why he's able to use that sword so effectively. I wanted to isolate him because he could have brought some... unwanted side effects to the team."

"So? We'd get over it. As a team. You should have stayed with us and brought Ryu into the group."

"You don't understand. Ryu is hiding most of his abilities and only using them in extreme situations. Two times during his training he forced himself to use the tiara instead of his sword. I don't think you could have defeated Herudite without his help, if that summoning took him four days to recover."

"Wait a minute. If he went alone with our rainbow crystal, that means he plans to take on Zoycite by himself! We have to help him!"

"Hang on, don't you think-"

"No, I don't think!" Serena pulled out her communicator and stood up. "We didn't search by the docks, so that's where we're going." Serena stormed out the door, and Luna sat on the bed, her head in a slump.

* * *

Ryu and Darion stopped in their tracks as they approached the starlight tower. It had been transformed into a weird pseudo-crystal abomination that reeked of negaverse energy.

Ryu gasped. His rainbow crystal started blinking, and reality started to fade...

"Ryuouji's really grown up. He's learned how to use that katana in, what, a week?"

"Huh?"

Ryu was in an open room, overlooking the lunar landscape. A pair of combatants sparred about a hundred feet from the building, which Ryu recognized as himself and... Darion?

He then heard a very familiar female voice speak. "Yes. He's adapting very well to our kingdom." The two were silent for a full minute. "Do you think he knows?"

"Even if he doesn't, we'll have to tell him soon. His parents asked us to raise him as our own child, but he deserves the truth."

Ryu turned around and was mildly surprised. He saw Queen Serenity and a man who he couldn't identify. He tried to speak, but no words would come from his mouth. This was extremely difficult for him to swallow, as there were more than a hundred questions he had.

"Perhaps he should 'discover' who he is, rather than have it thrown at him."

The man turned face face Serenity. "Do you have something planned?"

The queen smiled. She made a gesture with her hand, and a few sparks of magic danced across it.

Ryu walked over to his other self. The resemblance was exactly the same: blue-green eyes that changed color from the viewer's perspective, short, dark blonde hair, a slightly lean build and very prominent ears. Ryu also saw the katana he wielded as the exact same one that he had.

Darion parried a thrust and switched his sword hand to deliver a light tap to Ryu's left shoulder. The other Ryu paused in mid-swing, then sighed and sheathed his own sword. "I'm still not as good as you. Are you free for a rematch tomorrow?"

"I'm ready for you any day. You are getting better, though. It's getting harder to keep pace."

Ryu smiled, and they parted ways. He walked for about ten minutes towards the garden when something shiny caught his eye. Ryu walked over and felt that he was going toward something very powerful indeed. He shortened his stride as he neared it and put his left hand on the hilt of his katana.

At one yard away, Ryu saw what it was. It was some sort of pendant, golden all the way with a magnificent crystal in the center. He picked it up, and there was a flash in his mind -

"Hey, wake up Ryu!"

Someone tapped Ryu on his forehead. He opened his eyes and saw Darion standing over him, looking extremely perturbed. He stood up and noticed that his necklace had become a lot heavier. Ryu looked down and saw the locket Luna had given him and transformed into the same pendant that Queen Serenity had shown him.

"Come on, let's go!"

"Uh, yeah. I'm good." Ryu said. The two of them approached the tower and entered the door as it slid open.

Suddenly, Ryu heard someone shout far behind him. He cursed in his mind, grabbed Darion and ran from the door, deeper into the building.

Unfortunately, it didn't make any difference. Serena charged through the doors just as they were closing. She kept going and flying tackled Ryu, pinning him to the ground.

"You little sneak! You went off with our only rainbow crystal to challenge Zoycite?!? What was going through your mind to think you could beat her!? And then you had the stupidity to recruit Darion into... Wait, why is Darion here?"

Both Ryu and Darion developed sweatdrops. "You shall see soon enough, Serena." Ryu said. "Anyway, may I suggest we get going as the front doors have probably locked?"

Serena stared at Ryu for a few seconds, then got up and walked back over to the doors. Sure enough, they wouldn't even move an inch. Serena walked back to Ryu and spitefully helped him up. "Where to, fearless leader?"

As Ryu took a breath to speak, the building suddenly turned very dark. Ryu prepared to draw his sword, and some very hideous laughter emanated from all corners of the room. "Well then, It looks like you've shown up, Darion. Along with some uninvited guests, I see. Very well then, I hope you're all good runners!"

The room morphed. The metal and concrete started slithering around and turned into evil plant matter. Serena grimaced and then started running scared for the elevator. Ryu and Darion exchanged glances and quickly followed her.

Ryu caught up first. A large vine-monster thing began to attack them. Serena started to scream, but Ryu was still faster. He swung his katana out of it's sheath so fast that he tore his pants slightly, then jumped in the air and brought the glowing sword down with all of his might.

"Bahamut Slash!"

Ryu cut through to two-yard-thick monster like a hot knife through butter. He hit the ground, rolled, and kept running without missing a beat. All three of them made it to the elevator, and the doors closed just before another nega-monster snapped it's jaws shut.

Ryu remained at a ready stance for a couple of seconds, then sighed and relaxed. He turned to speak to Serena. "So, how did you find us?"

Serena shrugged. "We looked everywhere in the city except over here. It was a longshot that you'd even be in this area, but it payed off."

Ryu leaned against the side of the elevator and looked at his new pendant. He felt a strange attraction coming from the crystal in the center, sort of like he had used it before. It obviously wasn't from the moon kingdom, so who had given it to him?

Before he could get too deep into thought, Serena noticed the pendant as well. "Hey, what happened to the locket?"

"I don't know." Ryu said, "This just... appeared in it's place about fifteen minutes ago."

The elevator stopped. Ryu quickly regained his ready stance, but when nothing happened, he relaxed slightly. Darion walked out of the box first, followed by Ryu and Serena. This floor was normal, but the outside was still crystalline. At the other end of the room stood Zoycite. Ryu's hand hovered next to the hilt of his sword, but part of his brain was also preparing to say his transformation phrase.

"Hello, Darion" Zoycite said. Her eyes drifted from Darion, to Serena, then settled on Ryu. "I haven't seen you before. Are you the newest addition to their circus act?"

Ryu almost smiled. "I'm with Darion. We are to fight, correct?"

"That deal was only with him. You and his girlfriend will have to wait on the sidelines." Zoycite raised her hand, but Ryu flicked his sword partially out of it's sheath. The blade started glowing, and Zoycite found she couldn't use her abilities.

"We have altered the deal. Pray we don't alter it any further" Ryu said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the yellow rainbow crystal. He pointed to himself, then Darion, then Zoycite. "One, two, four. Seven rainbow crystals. You need all of them to activate the Silver Imperium Crystal. Are we going to fight or what?"

Zoycite grimaced. She got an idea in her head, then started smiling. "Of course. I'll let you transform like a good girl."

Ryu took the sword sheath out of it's pouch and set it on the ground. His left hand touched his new pendant once, then splayed his right hand out. "Moon Prism Power!"

There was an awkward pause. When nothing happened for five seconds, Ryu looked at the pendant and said "What?"

Zoycite laughed. "So that's the famous Dragon Senshi I've been seeing? Not much of a fighter, are you?"

Darion smiled slightly. "It's okay, Ryu. I can take her by myself." He took a deep breath, then activated his own transformation. Darion's clothes morphed into a tuxedo with a cape, then a top hat appeared, circled him once, and landed on his head.

Meanwhile, Zoycite had spawned a piece of crystal behind Darion. She moved it, slowly, into position, so that neither Ryu nor Serena would notice it.

"Alright, here are my crystals." Darion pulled out both of his rainbow crystals and tossed them out between himself and Zoycite.

"Well? There's one missing."

Ryu held up his hands. "I'm apparently not fighting in this one. I'm out." Ryu picked up his katana, then had a brief flash in his head. He saw a small crystal shard on the ground. He looked around to see if it was real, but saw it half a second too late.

"Fine." Zoycite said. She snapped her fingers, and the crystal shot forward. It was just barely missed by a white blade of energy, and plunged straight into Darion's right chest.

"Darion!" Serena shouted. She ran over and held him in her hands. Was he dead? No, that couldn't be. He must be alive. "Darion..."

Serena shed a single tear.

The Rainbow Crystal in Ryu's hand started glowing. He turned around and saw the other two on the floor doing the same thing.

As if on cue, the Sailor Scouts and Luna and Artemis exploded out of the elevator door. Ryu and Serena had no reaction, but Luna immediately started talking.

"Look! The Rainbow Crystals have started reacting!"

The four remaining crystals warped in from somewhere. All seven of them combined, and there was an ultraviolet explosion as they became the Silver Imperium Crystal. It hung in the air for a few seconds, then hovered over to Serena and attached itself to the Moon Wand.

The Sailor Scouts, Serena, and Ryu all gasped. Images flashed through their minds faster than they could comprehend them, memories of being on the moon, people they didn't recognize, memories of friendship and love. Ryu looked down at his pendant. He knew what it was now.

"Hyper... Dragon... Crystal?"

Ryu picked up his sword and removed it from it's sheath. It immediately started glowing green. He walked over to Darion and knelt beside Serena, who was still crying.

"It's okay, Serena. He'll be all right. Earth Slash, heal my friend of his wounds!"

Ryu put the flat of his blade against Darion's forehead. Darion groaned, and the blood from his tuxedo disappeared. He smiled, and then fell unconscious.

"Now then..." Ryu said. He stood up and sheathed sword, then stared directly at Zoycite.

"Are you six bimbo-heads going to do anything, or just sit there and mourn you friend there?" Zoycite asked.

"I'll fight you." Ryu said.

Zoycite laughed again. "You can't even transform! I'm going to love killing you."

"Wanna bet?"

Zoicite's expression dropped slightly. "Huh?"

"Moon Dragon Power!

Ryu raised his right hand, letting his fingernails glint in the moonlight. His skin turned multicolored and the dragon on his necklace came to life, flew around him once, and entered his forehead. Gold ribbons sprouted from the necklace and wrapped around his torso, forming a white short-sleeve Soldier's jacket and shorts, trimmed golden. More of them went around his forearms and created gold-edged bracers, and the same for short top white boots. Ryu threw his head back, and a small crescent moon materialized on his forehead. It was quickly replaced by a red gem which expanded into a V-shaped golden tiara. S-Ryu struck his sailor pose as his katana appeared in it's sheath on his left side.

Serena and the Sailor Scouts watched Ryu's transformation with awe. He looked beautiful in this uniform, and simply radiated with power.

"Zoycite! You and your evil ways must be stopped! Love is our greatest virtue and I will not allow you to destroy it! I am Sailor Dragon Moon! And in the name of the Moon, and the Draconian Kingdom, I shall punish you!"

(Deep in the back of Ryu's mind, barely even being processed because of the immense strain and importance of the situation, he was shuddering at the thought of how cheesy that was. His only consolation was that he managed to keep it short.)

"It'll take more than a change of clothes to beat me! Zoy!"

Zoycite gestured with her arms, and dozens of pink rose petals appeared and flew towards Ryu. He smiled, however, and began his own attack.

"Mercury Bubbles! Blast!"

The entire room filled with a very dense mist. Serena could barely even see Darion in it, and the Sailor Scouts were spread out so far they couldn't see each other.

"Nice shot Mercury! But did you have to make it this thick?" Jupiter said

"Yeah, it's as thick as pea soup!" Mars added.

"But... I didn't do anything!" Mercury replied.

Zoycite began shuddering. This mist was colder than ice! She couldn't even concentrate on her attack and it dissipated, but by now Ryu could have been anywhere in the room!

"Venus Crescent V Smash!"

The Scouts saw a brief flash of yellow far ahead of them, and heard Zoycite scream. The mist faded, and Zoycite was in a heap on the floor. Close behind her was Ryu.

"Serena! Your tiara!" Ryu shouted.

Serena looked up. "Right! Moon Prism Power!"

Zoycite opened her eyes. "Am I... really beaten?"

Ryu walked over and crouched beside Zoycite. "Jedite and Nephrite couldn't beat the Sailor Senshi. What made you think you could?"

"I had too. If I didn't, Queen Beryll would put me into an eternal sleep like Jedite, and then I could never be with Kunzite again..."

Ryu cocked an eyebrow. "So you did it for love?"

Zoycite smiled. "Yes. I know Kunzite loves me, and I love him. We've been together for over two hundred years."

"Are you sure he loves you?"

Zoycite managed to look at Ryu. "What?"

"I've seen you and Kunzite together. It doesn't look like a very healthy relationship."

"I know Kunzite loves me! We just... get a little stormy sometimes."

Ryu sighed. "Okay. If that's what you believe. Think about that while you die."

Zoycite closed her eyes. Kunzite loved her. She knew it! They were meant to be together! And nothing Ryu could say would change that.

Unless...

Maybe he was right?

Zoycite seriously considered how Kunzite had been treating her. How many times had he shrugged her off? How many times had she tried to be with him, only to be ignored persistently?

Zoycite almost couldn't believe herself. She belonged with the Negaverse. But why was she second-guessing herself now? Maybe it really would be better with the Sailor Scouts. She was dead any other way. Maybe she could get a second chance at love.

"Wait..." She said. She struggled to get up, but couldn't muster the strength. "I don't... I don't want to be with them anymore."

Ryu held his hand out. Zoycite took it, and together they stood up. Ryu smiled, and his Hyper Dragon crystal started flashing.

"Dragon Healing, Activation!"

Ryu's crystal radiated a brilliant light. It emitted hundreds of thousands of white snow-like particles which swirled around them both. A black crescent moon appeared on Zoycite's forehead briefly, but it disintegrated into tiny pieces and blew off of her.

Ryu's healing ability cycled to a halt. Zoycite opened her eyes, and saw two big green ones staring back at her. She smiled, and fell asleep, completely drained from her transformation.

Ryu picked Zoycite up. He began walking for the elevator, when he had another flash in his mind. This one was different, though. It was more urgent. It said 'Danger'.

Ryu gasped. "Sailor Moon, use the crystal!"

"What?"

Ryu dropped Zoycite, but he infused some energy and made her slowly float to the floor. Ryu's sword seemed to jump out of it's sheath into his hand as he snapped into a battle stance.

A second later, sinister laughter began to fill the room. A gyrating black portal appeared against the window, and Kunzite stepped out of it.

"Well then, I guess Zoycite wasn't up to the task after all."

Kunzite moved his hand, and a black wave of energy shot from it and slammed into Ryu and the Senshi. They crashed into the wall behind them, and slumped to the floor. Ryu got up weakly and assumed his fighting position.

"Princess... The crystal..."

Serena gasped. The Silver crystal emanated a blinding light that made Kunzite cover his eyes. Serena's sailor uniform turned white and morphed into a long, white dress. The moon wand elongated into a one-meter staff, which put itself into Princess Serenity's hands.

Kunzite was getting angry. He used another dark wave attack on the princess, but Ryu darted in front of her and took the full force of the attack. He dropped to his knees, HD crystal blinking weakly, and looked back at Serenity. "Now!"

The light from the Silver crystal somehow increased in intensity. Kunzite grunted and couldn't quite summon up enough strength for an attack. The light continued for a full thirty seconds, and when it died down, Ryu had been fully restored, and he and the four Senshi were poised to fight.

"You think that pathetic attack can defeat me?" Kunzite asked. "If I can't have Zoycite, then you won't either!" He loosed a massive energy blast at Zoycite's limp body.

Ryu smiled. He dropped the sword and cupped his hands, ready to launch his own attack. A tiny spark appeared in the center of the depression which rapidly grew into a raging fireball. Ryu pulled his hands back, then threw them forward and released the sphere.

"Dragon's Fire!"

A gout of flame two feet white erupted from Ryu's hands. It engulfed Kunzite's attack and overpowered it, then continued to the window and flash-melted the entire pane!

Kunzite took a step back. Ryu was more powerful in this form than even Queen Beryl could have expected. He needed more information on this person, or he could be destroyed. It took him a great effort, but he managed to warp out of the building.

Ryu stood up straighter and smiled again, then gasped and started breathing heavily. He and Serenity shone white and transformed back to their civilian forms. The entire building morphed back to normal, and all eight of them were transported out of the building.

Author's notes:

This is the first you've seen of it (Because most of my projects are unpublished so far), but what the hell happened that made my chapters so long? It's actually getting annoying because it takes at least a month to get anything done, but at the same time good because It's less embarrassing for me.

Also, here's something from the future:

I just realized chapter 3 isn't even up yet. It isn't even one text file right now. Great.


	5. Chapter 5

Insert Self, Senshi

Chapter 5

By Ryu Himora

Queen Beryl sat sulking in her throne, too deep in thought to even operate the crystal ball in front of her. A slight lapse on energy informed her that someone had just entered the room - someone she did not like.

"HERUDITE!" Beryl screamed. She slammed the crystal out of her way and stood up. Herudite was tortured beyond belief, her life force only barely clinging to the body it was bound to.

"You alone are responsible for allowing the Dragon Prince to survive! Jedite's punishment would be too gracious for you! I shall strike you down now and leave your sould to be devoured!"

_Revenge is such a sweet thing..._

"...Huh?" Herudite said.

"Have your wounds left you senseless? Oh well, your death shall be just as painful." Beryl raised her right hand, a black sphere forming in it.

_You can keep your life, if you'd care to make a pact with me..._

"What do you mean?"

_We're both after that kniving Dragon Prince. Beryl can only provide you with so much power, but if you ally with me, I can give you as much as you want._

"Y... Yes..."

Beryl threw the bolt at Herudite, but it bounced off! A barrier seemed to have formed in front of her!

"What?!?"

Herudite stood up, her clothes suddenly renewed. She chuckled, and the air around her body crackled with black lightning.

"Queen Beryl... the next time we meet, it will not be as friends." Herudite snapped her fingers, and she vanished, leaving a small crater.

* * *

Ryu snapped awake, in a cold sweat. Something was coming. His HD crystal began faintly flashing, as though it felt something, too. Ryu picked it up, and felt another urge - he reached out and touched a different facet of the crystal portion.

The moonlight seemed to brighten. It reflected off the pendant and focused to a single point on Ryu's chest.

_"Hello, young one. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."_

"Who are you?"

_"My name is Katrix. I don't have much time, so let me explain what just happened. Several minutes ago a virus escaped from some laboratory in the galaxy. The remnants of the Draconic Kingdom attempted to stop it, but we are not as strong as we once were. We only managed to weaken it. However, it seems to be intent on hunting you down."_

"I can fight it. That's why you gave me this crystal in the first place, right?"

_"Ryu, violence isn't the answer to everything." _(Sigh) _"We think the virus already in the Sol system. It will probably take some time for it to regenerate back to full power, but be warned. We can't give you any more epic power, but there may be another way to combat this threat."_

"What is it?"

_"You've been working with a knight named Sailor Moon, correct? We have determined that you and she are capable of combining powers. Find some way to help her in her own dangers, and she should be able to help you back."_

The moonlight started to fade, and the voice grew quieter. _"As your powers improve, Ryu, the future of the kingdom grows brighter. All we can do from here is wish you luck, but you need to win in order for us to survive. I'll talk to you later..."_

The light went back to it's normal brightness. Ryu let the pendant drop, and it thudded against his chest. He laid back down, suddenly tired again, and quickly drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Ryu awoke to an unfamiliar ceiling. He studied it for several minutes before he remembered the night before. There hed been a battle. A new tranformation. Memories - not his own - swimming through his mind like oil in water. Ryu's vision flashed - his necklace pendant appeared for a fraction of a second. He sat up and felt a familiar weight on his neck. The pendant seemed to attract him, as if something were calling out...

Ryu found himself reaching out for the crystal in the center. It was too intriging to stop. He touched the crystal, focusing some of his power to a single point at his fingertip.

The room went dark. The window seemed to repel the sun's rays, and the door frame magically sealed, ensuring no light would get in. And yet Ryu could see. There was no color, but every detail of the room was just as vivid as a few seconds ago. The crystal started beeping, three bursts of five, and then dots started appearing on the walls. White ones at first, then blue, red, and a handful of green ones. They were moving very slowly, and after a minute Ryu realised what they were - stars. Planets. The view of the night sky from a somewhere, not Earth, but still very familiar. His eyes focused on one star and it expanded - showing it's name, how old it was, and a bunch of other data.

Ryu got out of the bed and walked over to a different star. This one expanded to a bright yellow one. The information was displayed like the last one, but this had an extra line labeled Solar System. Ryu instictively reached out and tapped the wall at that spot. The rest of the stars vanished, leaving the one he was currently looking at. Eight concentric rings formed around it, and planets appeared that followed the path of the rings. There were four gas giants at the edge and four smaller inner ones. Two of them had green names, Dracona Major and Dracona Minor, and along with geographical and other information, the word HABITABLE was with them. Ryu reached out for the bigger one, his mind almost saying "home"-

"Ryuuu! Time to wake uup! Breakfast is almost ready!"

Ryu was startled. He blinked several times, but the images were still on the wall. Witout thinking, he went over to the door and opened it.

"Holy cow, it's dark in here." Serena said, "Wow! Where'd you get the projector.. for... this?" Serena waved her hand back and forth in front of the wall, but she had no shadow. "Um, what is this?"

Ryu shrugged. "I have no idea. My pendant... I was being drawn toward it somehow. Kind of like I had used it before."

Serena noticed that even with the door open, no light was coming in from the hallway. She closed the door, and the only thing keeping her from thinking she was in space was the fact that her feet were still on the floor. Ryu tapped another image and the scene changed back to the starry night.

"It's so pretty." Serena said. She walked around the room, looking at constellations and individual stars. "Which one do you think is Earth?"

In the split second before Ryu could respond, a word box appeared on the wall. It said QUERY: EARTH. A circle appeared under the box and darted around the room, until it fell on a star almost exactly opposite to the one Ryu had selected. The image zoomed in until the system of that star came into focus. The sun was again yellow, but this time there were nine planets. A red arrow pointed to the third one from the sun, which was labled Sol.

"Wow! I wish I had one of these!"

Ryu smiled. This was pretty awesome. However, as his stomach informed him, it was also time to eat. He walked over and picked up his pendant, then infused the same amount of power into the spot he had before.

All of the stars started gathering to a point in the wall. Instead of turning off, however, they formed words:

The Chosen One is on the Path

"Huh?" Ryu and Serena said.

The Path will be unclear at first

At times the Path cannot be found

At others it will be lit as though on fire

Some Branches will not go through

Others can be bypassed

The end will be a glorius victory

The Chosen One will then ascend

On wings of fire by his Father's side.

The words faded, and light was again permitted to enter the room. Ryu and Serena stood there for a full minute trying to comprehend the badly-written poem. Neither of them could make sense of it, so they went downstairs to answer their stomachs' pleas.

* * *

Later...

Ryu poised his sword at the ready, anticipating the next attack. He had convinced the other scouts to use him as target practice - which was technically okay, since he knew they couldn't harm him seriously.

There was a slight buzz in Ryu's head - to the left. He let a blade of energy fly in that direction, and it impacted a thrown tiara.

"Ohhhh! Ryu, you're too strong for us!" Serena said.

"I'm not even transformed. While I'm happy that I seem to be as powerful as any of you, we really must try to get stronger."

"I don't get it." Lita said. "Why are you so pushy like this? Isn't it enough that you're here? Let's focus on defeating the Dark Kingdom."

Ryu sheathed his katana as the others reverted to civilian form. "I'm pushy because Kunzite is very powerful. He and the rest of the Negaverse are going to be hunting for the Silver Impirium Crystal. We have to keep it safe at all costs."

"Ryu is right." Luna said. "That crystal could provide enough energy to fuel the Negaforce. We can't let it fall into enemy hands."

"There is one other way to ensure it's safety." Ryu said. "Take the fight to them. If we could determine their base location, we can take them out."

"That's an interesting idea," Raye said, "But are we strong enough to do that?"

"We can do anything if we work together. Luna, ask central to track the exit location of the negaverse portals you've encountered. In the meantime... I think that's enough practice for today."

"Great!" Serena said. "I've been wanting to go to this ice rink down town for a while. They're even offering free lessons today!"

"It's going to take a lot more than free lessons to get Serena ready to skate..." Artemis muttered.

"What?" Serena said.

"Oh! Uh, nothing."

Ryu chuckled. "Well, if that's what you ladies want to do. Lead the way, Serena."

"Gladly."

* * *

"Waaahhhhaahhhh!!!"

CRASH!

Serena face planted once again on the side of the rink. The rest of the scouts sighed, and Ryu went over to pick her up.

"Princess Serenity was known for her spectacular ice-skating ability." Luna said. "But Serena... doesn't live up to that reputation."

"Come on, Serena, it's not that hard." Ryu said. "Let me show you."

Ryu set Serena on her feet, and gently held her hand. He pushed off and led her around, gradually building up speed. Ryu took her other hand and they spun slowly, and when they were about to hit the side they pushed off in unison. Ryu accellerated faster and went to the other side, while Serena leapt into the air. She made a perfect backflip and landed in Ryu's arms. They briefly looked at each other's eyes before slamming into the glass wall. They both collapsed in a graceful slump.

"Wow." The other Scouts said.

"Was that really Serena?" Artemis asked.

"I'll admit that they pulled off quite a stunt... But the ending was not that spectacular." Luna bowed her head.

Ryu had managed to pull himself out of the mess and help Serena up, again, and wondered how many times he was going to find himself in a heap under her.

There was a slight buzz in Ryu's head.

A crack in the ice appeared, and it exploded upward in a shower of razor shards. Everyone in the rink screamed and tried to run, but the exits were blocked by energy fields.

"You cannot escape! I claim your energy for the Negaverse!"

Ryu and the Scouts looked up. They knew that voice!

"Quickly!" Ryu whispered. "While he doesn't know we're here!"

The Scouts nodded.

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

Ryu and Serena nodded at each other.

"Moon Prism Power!"

"Moon Dragon Power!"

All six of them stood poised and ready to fight.

Kunzite turned around. He grimaced at the sight, but quickly started to laugh. "Don't get too cocky, kids, let's see if you can even get past this! Rise, Diamond Lady!"

The ice in front of Ryu morphed and turned into a female form. It cackled, then threw shards at the Sailor Scouts!

All six of them dodged proficiently, and Sailor Mars turned to strike.

"Mars Fire... Ignite!"

The fireball impacted Diamond Lady and made her take a step back... but left no damage. Ryu frowned - he didn't like showing off.

"Let me show you how it's done, Mars!" Ryu said.

"Bahamut!" Ryu raised his right hand with the digit and pinky extended. A bright flash appeared between them, and a small red dragon flew out. It danced around Ryu for a few seconds while he spun once, then cupped his hands and brought them to his right side. The dragon flew into them, forming a raging ball of flames.

"Dragon's Fire!"

The ball erupted into a stream of fire. It enveloped the monster and burned for several seconds, but still left no damage. Ryu's eyes widened slightly, then he turned to the others. "Anyone else?"

Sailor Venus stepped up. "Venus! Crescent V Smash!"

The beam struck the monster's right arm. It shattered, leaving a glassy stump. However, the broken arm melted into the ice, and it rejoined with Diamond Lady!

"Ha ha ha! You fools are worthless against my power!"

"Moon, Tiara... Magic!"

Sailor Moon's tiara sliced throgh the air and smashed into the monster. It flew back into the walls of the ice rink and shattered, but it still managed to reform itself.

Ryu turned to Serena. "We'll have to work together for this one! Get ready!"

Serena nodded, and started her tiara spinning again.

"Bahamut!"

"Moon Tiara..."

Ryu and Serena aimed their attacks at the monster, and they felt each other's heart beating.

Time paused.

Ryu and Serena looked at each other. Their hearts synchronized, they both put out their right hands, and clasped.

There was a flash, and time resumed. They shouted in unison.

"Dragon... Tiara.... Flame Attack!"

Serena threw her tiara straight into the stream of fire. It absorbed all of it, then rocketed toward Diamond Lady, leaving a trail of short-lived flames in its wake. It circled her twice and formed a wall of fire around her, then went straight up, and slammed down, burning all the way down to the ice! A puddle of water extending all the way down to the concrete was left.

"What?!?" Kunzite exclaimed.

"Ice can't regenerate from water!" Ryu said. "You ready for round two?"

"Grr..." Kunzite looked at the crater, the back to the Sailor Scouts. "You win this time. But be warned, I will be back with an even more powerful creature when we meet next!" He stepped through a dark portal.

"We'll beat that one too!" Ryu shouted after him. He stood at the ready for a few seconds, then walked over and refroze the water. The energy fields blocking the exit dissipated, and the Scouts escaped as the people started waking up.


End file.
